EPISODE 8
One thing I love about Bang Dream is that it’s really good about avoiding fanservice. Oh, but there was fanservice this episode. Not the booby kind, but the crossover character interaction kind. The episode was totally focused on the girls, creating new friendships, and further nurturing them. Nothing dumb like boob shots and all that, which is basically a given whenever we get an onsen episode. But nope, just some pure and silly fun. We definitely need more of this.
But honestly, how this whole onsen trip even happened makes absolutely no sense. So the old ladies of the shopping district all threw their backs out, ALL AT THE SAME TIME when trying to lift up their luggage on the bus because they’re hella old and they couldn’t go to their onsen trip. So the girls have to go because…money? They have to fill up the reservations no matter what? Because…I don’t know, I really have no clue. Oh, and Pastel Palettes happened to be filming at the same exact onsen so they got to join in! So I guess they filled up all the slots with exactly 28 girls, like the presumably 28 old ladies. It makes no sense and it’s honestly hilarious but whatever! I’ll let this slide, only because this episode was really fun.
Things were a bit more chaotic this time, not too zany but still very hilarious at times. Pareo wasn’t able to join because she was so far away for some reason, and Chu2 continues to be a distant brat and just didn’t want to. But we still get lots of the usual interactions between established friends, and make some new friendships too with lots of fun. I gotta say, Lisa and Layer’s friendship is so wholesome and great. They both have soothing voices (ironic because Layer’s singing voice is so powerful) and the same type of calming expressions. Also I actually had no idea how old Layer was, so I was also shocked that she’s a year younger than Lisa because she honestly looks like she could be in her 20’s. Arisa’s outburst was adorable and hilarious, especially when she kept screaming all the way to the bath and you could hear it fade and then build up again the closer she got. As tsundere as ever~
There were lots of great Layer moments honestly. Like I said, I really like her new friendship with Lisa because she can talk to her so easily, maybe because they’re so similar. And I think it’s so sweet that Layer can really have some fun for once, since she’s not used to hanging out with people her own age and she’s never been on a trip like this. She can finally let loose and have fun. Another moment was at the end as she talked with Kasumi, complimenting her and Popipa while also having some reservations. She’s worried about causing trouble for PoppinParty again since she was involved in breaking them apart for a bit before. I’m so glad that we can see some of Layer’s thoughts about this, and her thoughts in general since I always felt like she went with the flow. She never really reacted much to anything or said much about anything for the most part, so she was in the background and things just happened around her. Thankfully in these recent episodes, Layer’s finally started to become more of a character and is given the chance to really shine. Her drive at the joint concert, her first conversation with Lisa, and this episode in general. These interactions and focus on Layer are really important for her and she’s really caught my attention, whereas I was more or less indifferent about her. So I’m really glad!
And now this is my own bias, but I’m so glad Maya is getting the love and attention she deserves! I’m actually behind on reading event stories in the game so I haven’t quite read through the Gyuu Days event yet, but Maya has always been up there in my top ten for my favorites. She’s so underappreciated by the fans and the game and it hurts because she’s so good! After helping Kanon find her friends, Masking freaks out because she’s a huge fan of Maya, and Maya is a huge fan of Masking. It’s so funny because the drummer girls suddenly decide to all hang out together (what about Aya and Chisato? lol), and Masking basically treats Maya like royalty. It’s so interesting to hear that Maya was basically like a celebrity in the music scene before she really became famous with Pasupare professionally, and seeing Masking freak out over her was so awesome because…yes! Because yes, that’s it. All the drummer girls hanging out in itself was fantastic since they make a great group, and it reminded me of that Garupa Pico episode which is actually one of my favorites.
Like I said, very fun and silly episode. I was scared that this was going to be a very pointless and boring episode but it was far from it. The interactions were great, some great characterization, and I laughed a lot. Other highlights include:
- Yukina basically staying in those specialty jug baths for the whole day, only leaving when she hallucinated Michelle being there. It probably wasn’t even a hallucination…or was it?
- Her short conversation with Ran, where they were veeeeery far apart. Ran compliments Yukina and all that, as awkward as always.
- Masking getting pissed about not getting the rabbit plush she wanted
- Ako and Rinko playing crossword puzzles to win a prize
- Arisa being adamant about using her fluffy towel
- Arisa in general
- Himari and Rimi fangirling over Kaoru
- so many of them overheating
There’s just a lot of stuff that was great and I could list more. Aya appearing in this episode was nice, but it was very minimal again. She, Chisato, and Eve have barely appeared in this season at all which is really sad. Aya and Chisato are my favorites so not seeing them much is a little disappointing, but giving most of the focus to RAS, Roselia, and Popipa is probably for the best to make a more cohesive story this time around. So this episode was basically the best for the fans because we got to see them all this time around, even if it was for a bit. So enough with the fun filler, onward to the plot!
EPISODE 9
Popipa are taking things very seriously now and to build up their momentum and make themselves climb the rankings, they’ve decided to perform concerts (sometimes multiple in a day) every day for three weeks. And to ride this wave, Arisa proposes that they not only perform in Galaxy but also in other venues. And because the competition is reaching its end, pretty much all the venues are booked. That is, except for two: Circle and Dub. The only reason being that those two are Roselia and RAS’ turf respectively and no one wants to go up against them. But they decide to take these chances and it really pays off for them. And while things were turning well for them, the episode ended with a bit of an explosion with RAS.
We could see Chu2 slowly losing it throughout the episode whenever she appeared. She already had a crappy attitude in the beginning when she screamed at Pareo, and it got worse but she didn’t blow up until the very end. I sound like a broken record but dammit Chu2! Her attitude was worse this time around. I understand her love for RAS, and I understand that she’s an incredibly talented girl. Hell, she’s more of a genius because she writes the lyrics, composes, promotes the band, does all the preparations, etc. So she’s smart and very hardworking, but also stressed. And immature. She’s shocked to see the rest of her band casually mingling with Popipa in such friendly terms, such as Masking helping them get the gig at Dub, them sharing pastries with each other, Masking and Rokka watching their performance up close, and them voluntarily helping Popipa with their concert. Of course the two bands never really had much bad blood between them in the first place, and they only strengthened their bond in the previous episode. Which Chu2 very much did not want to go to, because she just CANNOT even imagine mingling with Popipa and Roselia. And it’s her loss, because she’s pushing herself away from creating some bonds, furthering distancing herself from everyone. But her melting point wasn’t until the very end when Chu2 calls them over for a meeting, because Roselia finally took first place in the rankings from them.
This was just ugly. Because of this, Chu2 is setting demands to her members to obey her every command and rule from now on. She’s definitely taking the offensive now as she tells RAS that they should also perform in the other venues and force the other bands to drop out by crushing them. Chu2 also takes things up a notch not as a fellow band member, but as producer, to forbid the girls from ever interacting with the other bands. And this angers Masking immediately and Chu2 completely loses it. What’s even worse is what she said to Pareo when all the other bandmates left.
“Shut up! Being stuck with you is completely useless!”
The quick cymbal and Pareo’s shocked expression, where you could see her heart break…OUCH. That legit shocked me and hurt me. Pareo has been nothing but kind and loyal towards Chu2 for whatever reason, and for Chu2 to say “being stuck with you is completely useless” is so disrespectful and horrible. Preview shows that we’ll probably get some backstory and I’m dying to see why Pareo loves Chu2 so much, because right now I just don’t get it. All I know is that Pareo doesn’t deserve this and I feel for her so badly. That ending honestly hurt.
It’s important to note that Chu2 said she was their PRODUCER. She didn’t say all that in the end because she’s a fellow bandmate and one of them, she specifically chose her title of Producer and to say that further alienates herself from them, which is something she’s been doing from the start. Just herself calling herself their producer insistently shows how alone she is, which is sad because the RAS girls were planning a surprise birthday celebration for her like Popipa did for Tae (with their help). RAS actually do care for Chu2, but she doesn’t reciprocate these feelings. Landing great gigs and outfits is one thing, but sharing in interpersonal activities and creating bonds with her bandmates is another and I hope this changes soon for her.
As for PoppinParty, they’ve been working really hard and have definitely rode the wave. They’ve been following through with their plans while also studying for exams, and also getting chances from HHW. I’m just shocked that none of them have passed out from all the performances that they’ve been doing since it sounds really exhausting. But because of their hardwork, they’ve rose all the way to sixth place, which is great! They got lots of new fans from their many performances, and it was a great idea to get a pan shot of the audience because we actually got to see them. We saw the old ladies and the kindergarten children with their mothers, and they even gained some Roselia fans too. It’s been nothing but good things for them and their hard work is really paying off, and their three weeks aren’t even done yet. I’m looking forward to their rise and their imminent faceoff against RAS and Roselia in the future at the Budoukan because of course! And again, Arisa really shined in this episode and my love for her is growing even bigger. Arisa was always somewhere in my top ten but I never knew where because trying to rank all these girls is so damn hard, but she’s definitely rising even higher. Her love for Popipa and determined attitude are so great, and she’s cute. Ya gotta love her~
Until next time, with Pareo backstory!
You deserve better, Pareo! ;~;
